Fox Buys 'Prodigy Bully' Comedy From Mike O'Malley And John Wells

EXCLUSIVE: Fox is teaming with Glee co-star Mike O’Malley for another school comedy. The network has bought Prodigy Bully, a half-hour comedy written by O’Malley and executive produced by John Wells. Based on the Prodigy Bully one-minute movies by Hank Perlman, the comedy centers on a young boy genius who uses his brains and brawn to get whatever he wants. John Wells Prods and Warner Bros TV are producing, with Wells, Paris Barclay and JWP’s Andrew Stearn executive producing and O’Malley co-executive producing. JWP and WBTV first took a stab at developing a single-camera comedy based on the Prodigy Bully shorts during the 2005-2006 season. Titled Prodigy/Bully, the project went to pilot at NBC, with Perlman and Steve Elliott writing, Perlman directing, Wells, Barclay and Jon Feldman executive producing and Josh Flitter playing the lead, 9-year-old Henry Tammer. Fox has had success in the past with a single-camera comedy about a boy genius, the long-running Malcolm In The Middle. O’Malley’s relationship with WBTV and John Wells stems from his current writing gig on the Showtime drama series Shameless, which Warner Bros produces and Wells co-wrote and executive produces. As a writer, O’Malley, repped by CAA and Principato-Young, also has a script development deal with 20th and Ryan Murphy. He recently wrote and produced the indie Certainty, which last month won Best Screenplay, Best Ensemble Cast and Best Editing at the Boston Film Festival.